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tv   BBC World News This Week  WHUT  January 23, 2010 7:00pm-7:30pm EST

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♪ ♪ >> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. the newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.
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>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> this is "bbc world news." we are showcasing reports from correspondents across the globe. ♪
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>> more than a week after the haiti earthquake, some of those trapped are rescued as the aid and u.s. troops start flooding in. the u.n. says the situation on the ground was overwhelming with humanitarian aid efforts. the taliban's most audacious attack yet. militants strike at the heart of kabul. there is a political shock for barack obama. the state senate seat lost to the republicans is threatening the health reform. at least the president can still count on german theater lovers. the german musical troupe crowds in frankfurt. hello and welcome to a review of the major news stories seen on "bbc world news" over the last
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seven days. this week saw a massive international effort to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the earquake in haiti. president obama was joined by former presidents clinton and bush outside the oval office where they pledged that the united states would help to rebuild haiti. >> it will be difficult. it is an enormous challenge to distribute the aid safely and quickly in a place that has suffered such destruction. >> i know a lot of people want to send blankets or water, just send your cash. one thing the president and i will do is make sure the money is spent wisely. >> what these men have said is true. it is still one of the most remarkable in the places i have ever been. they can escape their history and build a better future if we do our part. >> the united nations said the haiti disaster is the worst it has ever confronted. it is estimated that 200,000 people died with 2 million
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homeless. hundreds of thousands of people are still waiting for the aid to reach them. logistical problems and violence hindered the efforts. this report from port-au-prince contains a distressing images. >> this is port-au-prince from the air. you can see how these size and importance of the building was its curse. this was the supreme court. this was the presidential palace. it is now a symbol of the collapse the nation. who is running things down there? we went to see one of the first aid distribution points in the city. biscuits from the united nations. food has become one of the currencies of survival. every line is a potential riot. there is a lot of security. you can see why it is necessary.
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these people have been waiting for days to get their first meal and supplies of water. of course, they are desperate. this time, it is petrol for generators, cars, or the black market. theyave been waiting here since dawn. tempers are frayed. this could easily get out of hand. [shopouting] the airport has become a fortress of hope. it is here that people are evacuated. it is here that the aid is piling up fast. it is outside the gates were those with no escape have come looking for help. he is hoping for any kind of work. then there are those that to sit to get out. we went back to the general hospital that we visited on friday. blankets have arrived. basic medicines have arrived, but there's still no doctor. at least the body bags are here.
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the dead have been moved to hundred yards away out of sight, but never out of smell. [singing] much of the city was at masses morning, out in the open. most of the churches have been destroyed. there's plenty to pray for in haiti these days. patience is now vying with anger and tension. >> throughout the week, up rescue teams from many nations tried to locate and free any survivors of the earthquake. we have a report on how one british team is saving lives. >> as the hours pass, the british rescuers trudge across the heart of the city, surrounded by death. >> they could not open the door. i do not know. >> this bank worker escaped. he hopes that his colleagues may still be alive.
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the dog finds no signs of life. the search goes on. there are often calls across the devastation for help, but usually it is too late. then the fire crews go to a scene where rescuers from the charity are talking to a woman trapped under the rubble of her house. when they did towards her, the camera shows that the space she is in is hardly deeper than the length of her own feet. >> water? >> a doctor works his way towards the survivor. he reports that a teenaged girl is lying dead beside her. the hours of tough work are followed by minutes of tenderness. the woman is lifted gently out.
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>> quite often, we do not buy life. when we do find life, we will do all we can to get them out. >> it is fantastic. i am privileged to be able to assist in situations like this. it is an absolute privilege. we are obviously over the moon. >> her son is let through to find out that while his mother lives, his sister is dead. the earthquake are being pulled out of the rubble. they are being saved life by life. these are small signs of hope in a city that smells of death. meanwhile tonight, two of the fire officers who saved a small child on friday went back to see that she has made a remarkable recovery.
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bbc news in port-au-prince, haiti. >> washington says 11,000 soldiers are going for the relief effort in haiti. it is a rapid buildup of forces for country already fighting two wars. the u.s. aircraft carrier is off the coast of haiti. we have this report. >> these are incoming one did. it is one of the largest warships in the world. it is from this deck that america launched the first air strikes after 9/11. the battle now is a humanitarian one. already badly injured in the earthquake, this man has suffered a seizure. he is rushed away to the ship's hospital. since friday, the pilots of flown over 600 missions, getting the seriously injured out of haiti and taking in food, water, and medicine. it has not been easy. >> at first, we struggled with
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getting the quantity of food and water in. we also struggled with getting clear landing zones. there were a lot of people coming right to the helicopters. we got more security forces just to keep people back for their own safety. it also mixes easier -- it also makes it easier for us to land in those zones. >> this man receives urgent medical attention. this woman is one of two entities. the doctors could not save her foot. nearby, a young mother cradles her son born on a warship three days after his country lost everything. with a massive buildup of hardware and troops, 80 increasingly feels like a third front for the u.s. military -- haiti increasingly feels like a third front for the u.s. military with new and rmidable challenges. by their own admission, the americans have not gotten everything right in haiti. but they are here by the thousands.
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bbc news on board the uss carl vinson. >> on wednesday, haiti was rocked by a strong aftershock more than six in magnitude. it struck in the capital just after dawn. is that people screaming into the streets. -- it sent people screaming into the streets. there were still signs of hope. a young boy was pulled out alive after being trapped in the rubble for a week. a seven-year old and hisister were later reunited with their parents. new footage emerged of the moment the earthquake struck. it was filmed in an orphanage. it shows the power of the trimmers and the terror they caused. it also highlighted the plate -- plight of haiti. -- it show the power of the earthquake and the terror it caused. >> these are children at an orphanage in haiti. the happy moments were felled by a visiting aid worker. then this.
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-- the happy moments were killed by a visiting aid worker. then this. the children escaped with their lives, but they may be deeply scarred. the earthquake has produced a new generation of orphans. no one knows her name or how she survived all alone doctors are calling her lena. she is being treated by this woman. her son lives in the next bed. he is one of many new and duties haiti. she says she knows the little girl is suffering. she is trying to be a mother to her, but there's not much to do except told her. for now, we cannot tell if she has a single surviving relatives. there is no way to know. there are many children here in the same situation the big concern for local people and the international medical teams is what will happen next to
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children like her when they are well enough to be discharged. where will they go? there is total panic of the biggest hospital in haiti. [screaming] >> get me some sheets, please. >> she is in labor outside because of a terrifying aftershock. the staff are fighting against the odds, trying to operate in incredible conditions. they are out in the open air. this woman is trying to give birth. the baby is in the breach positioned. [screaming] today has brought fresh pain for those who have already suffered so much. [crying] for all the promises of help, for all the donations made
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abroad, volunteers your do not even have the basics. >> this is what i am going to cut the cord with. this is a plastic tie for a bag of bread. we're going to cut the cord with his knife. it is not sterile. there's no way to sterilize anything. there is nothing. >> many of these patients have no homes to go back to. when they leave the hospital, they wil be living on the streets. >> it is hard to see even not being from here. we're not getting paid. we're doing it from our hearts. people need our help. this is unimaginable. >> today, the gift of a new life in the midst of her grief. she lost her six-year old son in the earthquake.
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>> he rubbed my stomach and told me good luck with a baby. that was the last time i saw him. >> she said that she will be relying on god to raise her new son. bbc news in port-au-prince. >> by friday, the aid operation was finally beginning to reach the more remote parts of the country. one of the biggest towns on the south coast is jacmel, home to about 60,000 people. more than 90% of them are sleeping on the streets. the town was largely cut off by the damage caused by the of quick. our crew managed to get through. >> they told us that the route to jacmel was impossible. we made in three hours. the rugged mountain road to this past mudslides to the southernmost edge of the island. this former colonial coffee town is in desperate need of help.
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one in three buildings lies in ruins. at the hospital, the wounded wait for pain killers. they are in the garden, in the heat, without enough doctors to help. the doctors say with only the most basic supplies, they are being forced to remove lands that they could have saved. >> it is a really emotional experience. i am getting kind of tired. actually, there is no place i would rather be. this is where it is happening. this is what you have got to do. >> there is no major search and rescue in this town. it is the smell the signposts the dead. he has already buried his sister. somewhere beneath this pile is her niece. >> we have not seen anyone here. no one has come to help us, she says.
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>> the need is great. the football stadium is full of pltic sheeting. 90% of the people are living out in the open. the united nations told me this is the single biggest camp in the country. it is growing all the time. despite the fact they're living in these makeshift shelters under a sweltering heat, they've shown extraordinary fortitude. the world food program was disturbing basic supplies here within 24 hours of the disaster. now they can provide rice and beans for people to cook themselves. we left jacmel on the black hawk helicopters now flying aid and repeated shovels from port-au- prince. for this town, it is a lifeline. how many others across this remote terrain are still cut off without any help at all? bbc news in haiti. >> taliban the gunmen and
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suicide bombers attacked kabul. there were a series of coordinated explosions and gunfire. the bbc was in kabul. he found himself trapped when the fighting raged around him. >> watch the bus at the center of the screen. afghan security forces approach to investigate. suddenly, they see what it is. they see the danger they are in. [explosion] is the single shocking moment when a suicide bomber takes his own life in the hope of taking others. in an instant, the city center is involved. it sounded to us like an orgy of violence spreading in an arc through the city center. it was grotesque, deafening, chaotic. but it was not corporation -- but it was not chaotic. it was coordinated. for all of afghanistan, it was
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profoundly dangerous. at least a dozen taliban militants terrorize this city for three long hours. they tried to storm the government buildings, largely without success. none would survive the battle they unleashed. some into their lives in this burning shopping center. -- some of them into their lives and is burning shopping center. the attacks took place around the presidential palace. their remarks -- there were reports of a man and a business suit who drove to the ministry building and blow himself up. in the hotel, afghan army and took up positions on the roof firing into the neighbong buildings. not far away, president karzai was swearing in new members of his cabinet. this is the man who has to try to persuade the world that he is winning the war against the taliban.
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president obama's special envoy india dismissed the attack as the trial and doomed. the streets are quiet tonight. for hours today, they belong to a dozen desperate men, armed and determined, knowingly going to their own tests to show the world what they're capable of. -- they were knowingly willing to go to their own deaths to show the world what they are capable of. >> china confounding all expectations. new figures released by the government suggests it grew 8.7% last year. that puts it on course to overtake japan as the world's second-biggest economy. about 300 people died in clashes between muslims and christians in the central nigerian city. houses were set on fire. thousands of people were made homeless. curfew was imposed.
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restrictions were later relaxed for the residents to get food and water. in one of the biggest corporate failures in japan's history, the largest airline filed for bankruptcy this week. they are being restructured under the supervision of a turnaround organization. president obama's democratic party lost a key election in the united states. republicans got brown won the senate seat formerly held by ted kennedy and the democrats for 50 years. he is already said he will use his senate vote to try to bring down president obama's health care reform. we have this report on a big vote with the repercussions. >> sure he is, the united states senator from massachusetts, scott brown. >> massachusetts voters have spoken. they have dealt a massive blow to barack obama. scott brown will give the republicans the extra votes they need to block health care
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reform. he says there's change in the air. >> what i have heard on the campaign trail is that our political leaders are aloof from the people. they're comfortable in making backroom deals. we can do better. [applause] >> the political atmosphere now is very different from one year ago when american inaugurated its first black president. himessage of hope seems to be losing its muster. president obama has found it difficult to reconnect with the millions of americans who backed his campaign. the hopeful voters seem to have become disillusioned as his slogan seems to have become, "no, we cannot." he has missed his own deadline to close guantanamo bay and has not settled the inmates. he has ramped up the war in afghanistan as promised. that is unpopular with his political base. even a year on, it is too soon
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to see real results. times for many in america are still hard, despite the large investment in the economy championed by the president. he did stave off a full-blown depression, but unemployment is 10%. mr. obama just found out from the people of massachusetts that in tough times, voters blame those in power. >> during the week, tensions increased between beijing and washington over the threat of google to pull out of china. china warned the u.s. that their support for the internet giant was harming relations. the chinese government gave an angry rebuttal of american criticism over its control of the internet. we have this report from beijing. >> today in beijing, google is still at work, censoring websites as required by chinese law. the tension is escalating. hillary clinton's criticism of
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chinese internet controls has entered beijing. >> countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of internet users in this risk walling themselves off from the progress of an eccentric. united states and china have different views on the issue. we intend to address those differences candidly a consistently. >> on thursday, the foreign ministry spokesman in china insisted the internet in china is "open." he said that her comments run contrary to the facts and harmful to u.s.-china relations. he called on the u.s. to stop using the freedom of the internet to make unjustified accusations against china. chinese internet users face a multitude of controls. websites are blocked. search results are filtered. entire internet is sometimes entirely cut off in some regions.
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these men helped to design the beijing olympic stadium. even his websites are often shut down. >> in china, the most basic rights such as normal activities involving information or freedom of speech are seriously control. this control is making it more difficult for the public to survive in the information age. the dispute has shined and uncomfortable light on chinese censorship. they've threatened to sour relationships with the obama administration. >> barack obama may be an unlikely subject for musical, but one has opened in germany. it came as the president marked his one-year anniversary of the white house. >> what do you think they are going to see right now?
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"yes, we can." ♪ >> yes, it really is a german musical about america's president. it is called "hope." it charts the rise of barack obama as a superstar center took the international stage, bringing with him hope. the production may be german, but an american has written it. why has he done it? >> there is no political speaking in the musical really. it is not as much of a political nature as it is the human side of the big story that captivated the world in 2008. >> judging from the wave of obamamania that's what germany ahead of the u.s. election, you can expect to get sales to be
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strong. when barack obama spoke in 2008 in germany, he attracted a massive audience. as president obama prepares to mark one year in the white house, his popularity back home has dipped. if things continue to falter, perhaps in germany that will come up with the sequel, "hope dashed." ♪ >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. the newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank
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>> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> 'm julia stiles. >> i'm kevin bacon. >> i'm kim cattrall. >> hi, i'm ken burns. >> i'm lili taylor. >> i'm henry louis gates, jr., and public broadcasting is my source for news about the world. >> for intelligent conversation. >> for election coverage you can count on. >> for conversationbeyond the sound bites. >> a commitment to journalism. >> for deciding who to vote for. >> i'm kerry washington, and public broadcasting is my source for intelligent connections to my community. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles. presented by kcet, los angeles.
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